Chapter Twenty-Five Dragging On and On

  Yuan Chonghuan didn't explain or complain, he just nodded slightly, and the imperial guard holding the Shangfangbao sword beside him took a step forward, raising his sword.

  It's all right, it's all right, just joking with Director Yuan. We'll set off immediately. The generals won't make a fuss anymore, they know that Director Yuan has a history and still wants to keep his head.

  After the meeting was dismissed, Yuan Chonghuan made some preparations and immediately began to inspect the city defense. This is the key to preventing Jianxi from entering, and it's also his old business, his strong point.

  The result is unknown, but after checking, it's a bit scary. The city wall of Jizhou is high and majestic, with tall arrow towers standing on the city wall, and a moat surrounding the outside of the city. These are not a problem, but the key is that there are no cannons, or rather, there are no useful cannons.

  The entire city of Zhenjiang had only six imitation red cannons, among which only one was usable, and the others were abandoned due to poor maintenance.

  What does our great commander rely on? Strong city walls, yes, we have that, but we also need powerful cannons! How can we not have those?!

  What to do, Jian Yu doesn't know when he will arrive. Now making cannons is a joke, transporting from the rear, time is probably not enough, and whether the rear can provide it or not is another matter.

  After some thought, he finally came up with a solution that wasn't really a solution: "Summon the people and have all the carpenters and painters in the city come to see the governor."

  Where did Jianhu go?

  The governor's office in Xunhua has become the residence of Huang Taiji, the Khan of the Great Jin. The back hall of the office has a warm stove at each corner, making the room feel cozy and warm, unaffected by the biting north wind outside. It is so warm that there is no need to wear thick clothes, making people feel relaxed and comfortable.

  At this time, Huang Taiji was not happy in his heart. It had been two days since the military meeting ended, and the personnel and supplies of Zhuozhou City had already begun to be escorted back to Shenyang. However, the troops led by Aming who attacked Santunying had not returned yet. By right, they should have returned. But there was no news at all. Even if they didn't take it down, or encountered strong reinforcements, they should have sent someone back to report.

  Fan Wen Cheng's performance made Huang Taiji look at him with new eyes, so he had been keeping him by his side for the past few days. At this moment, seeing the worry in Huang Taiji's heart, he stepped forward and bowed: "Master, why not let me go take a look?"

  Looking at Gong Kexin's expression, he thought for a moment and shook his head: "Forget it, the other Beile won't see you Han people. I'll send someone else to take a look."

  Fan Wen Cheng's face turned red, but it didn't look like shame, rather it looked like he had been insulted. He replied to Huang Taiji: "Your Majesty, I am the bone of the Han people and the flesh of the Great Jin."

  "Oh, haha, it's not me, I forgot. This time your merit is great. When you return, I will give you a promotion to the Imperial Yellow Banner."

  Fan Wencheng was overjoyed and quickly knelt down to thank him: "Master, your kindness to me is boundless, like a second birth. This life will not betray the master." On the original plane, Huang Taiji suddenly died, Fan Wencheng did not show any reaction, Dorgon seized power from Huang Taiji's son, and Fan Wencheng still did not react, just this kind of person.

  Another day passed, and news came back from Santunying that Santunying was taken down on the day of the attack, and after two days of looting, it was discovered that all the city gates were blocked, and those who entered could not come out. Everyone was busy letting go. It took another half a day to break through the city gate. Now personnel and materials are being transported over, and it is estimated that they will arrive in Zunhua in one day.

  Hong Taiji was speechless, and the robbery was truly selfless, his spirit is commendable.

  On November 7th, the main force of the three battalions finally arrived outside Zunhua City. The dense crowds of captives and civilians, as well as the endless streams of supply carriages, made the people of Zunhua extremely happy. This was much better than their previous struggles outside the pass. Many people thought that Daquan was truly wise.

  That night, Dai?an, Amin and Manggūltai secretly met to launch a surprise attack on the Ming dynasty, achieving a great victory. This greatly enhanced Hong Taiji's prestige, especially among the younger generation of Manchu people, many of whom were grateful for a wise Khan. The situation put unprecedented pressure on the three who still coveted the position of Khan, forcing them to abandon their rivalry and unite.

  Three people bumped into each other and collectively attacked Huang Taiji, especially Daisan and Manggultai, who had just been tricked, were even more fiercely attacked.

  Ming army's combat effectiveness, all three Beile saw it, is not as good as that group of beggars from Liaodong.

  Next is the capital of the Ming dynasty, if we can win a big victory on this road, I'm afraid it will be impossible to sit on an equal footing with Huang Taiji again. So, we must drag down Huang Taiji's hind legs.

  About a hundred miles ahead is another stronghold of the Ming army, Ji Zhou. However, judging from the situation in Zhuo County, I'm afraid Ji Zhou's defense is also worrisome. The three great Jin Beile began to worry about the defense for the Ming emperor and his ministers.

  This hundred-mile distance, the army can rush to arrive in one day and night. In order to allow the Ming army to have time to prepare and defend, the three Beile decided to drag their journey, walking slowly, taking two days to walk a day's journey. They would never take the night road if they could walk during the day.

  It's best if the large army arrives at the foot of Ji Zhou City and finds that the Ming army has already gathered in Ji Zhou, and it can't be taken down. It's better to turn back home. This way, you're good, I'm good, everyone is good.

  Three Beile thought this was a good idea and went back to prepare their respective tricks to drag down Huang Taiji.

  On the eighth day, the Qiangjiao team finally set off.

  With the Mongolian departments as the vanguard, Amin's department as the front army, Huang Taiji and Manggultai, Daisan's department as the middle army, other departments as the rear army, they went to Jizhou in a mighty manner.

  About half a day's journey from Zhuozhou, in a place relatively far from the official road, there is a large village. Having heard that there was war in the north, the timid ones fled towards Jizhou. Those with some family property couldn't just run away and thought that since Zhuozhou was where the Governor resided, nothing would happen. For so many years, there had been no war, so they were all rather complacent.

  Zunhua was captured overnight, and Jianhu was another siege war. Only a few people escaped and ran directly to Jizhou. They still thought about detouring to the village to report the news.

  The small Mongolian tribe that ran at the forefront of the Qiangjiao team had not even drunk soup when they ate meat before, so this time they took the initiative to run at the front of the team.

  It's been a day's journey, the north wind is blowing strongly in the afternoon, making it even colder. The Mongolian horseman is not holding the reins of his warhorse tightly, with both hands tucked into his sleeves. His robe made of sheepskin is crudely stitched together and he walks with his head down to avoid the wind.

  Suddenly, a Tartar cried out, and the crowd looked up to see a village of several hundred households not far away on the right side of the road, with green smoke curling upwards, apparently cooking dinner.

  The crowd of Mongols looked at each other, then cheered and no longer felt the cold. They stretched out their hands, grasped the reins, shouted "Hulla, hulla!" and began to gallop towards the village, leaving only one Mongol behind to report back to the main army.

  The villagers who stayed behind without a sense of war had suffered. These Mongolian bandits didn't rob people, only robbed valuables, so they killed whoever they saw and looted whatever they found.

  There were two Mongolian mules that were smarter, after arriving at the village entrance, they did not follow the main troops to go in, there were too many people and not much loot could be obtained, so they went around to the back of the village, chose a house that looked like a wealthy family's home and rushed in.

  In the village, there were no armed guards at all. Two Tartars with knives killed their way in, and ordinary people were no match for them. Moreover, no one dared to resist, and everyone was hiding everywhere. The two Tartars slaughtered wildly, sparing neither old nor young.

  After killing a whole family, they started looting valuables and made a big bundle. Then, they found many new clothes. One of them had an idea to wear the clothes, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put them on. It's obvious, you're wrapped in sheepskin, and then try to wear clothes tailored by the Central Plains people, can you fit into them?

  He put on many clothes but couldn't get in, so he started taking off his clothes.

  Another one saw him and asked: "Why are you taking off your own clothes? These clothes aren't warm, exchange them for some that will keep you from freezing?"

  "Silly, wear these clothes inside and then put sheepskin over them outside, won't that keep you warm?"

  It's the same with this one, it also starts taking off its clothes.

  They've finished, the two Tartars looked at each other and burst out laughing, wearing colorful clothes outside with grey sheepskin wrapped around them, quite comical.

  The two men looked at each other's spoils of war again, one of them found it a bit strange and asked: "Why did you take so many women's clothes?"

  "Take it back for the women and children at home to wear."

  "Haha, can't you see that I'm quite fond of your sister?"

  If the women and children in his household knew that the clothes brought to them were looted from other families' women and children after they were killed, I wonder if they would feel comfortable wearing them. Anyway, civilized people shouldn't dare wear them, should they?

  The Tatars who came later started stripping the clothes of the villagers who were killed on the ground, and also looted pots and pans, almost to the point of dismantling the house beams.

  Then afterwards, they started searching through the deceased's hair to see if there were any silver hairpins or needles that had been missed.

  The existence of a village with hundreds of households, having thousands of people, and still gathering more and more. People are like this, wherever they see excitement, they rush there. The latecomers envy the early arrivals. The early arrivals show off to the latecomers what they have seized.

  Amin, who followed closely behind, drove all the Mongolian ponies out of the village and then started camping in the village. Then he said that it's getting dark and the road is not good to walk, let's have dinner first.

  Moreover, it is not clear why the vehicles of Manggultai's and Daishan's troops in the middle often lose a wheel or overturn, frequently blocking an official road so tightly that even people from later generations who are used to traffic jams have never seen such severe congestion.

  Emperor Taizong of the Qing dynasty, although a great Khan, followed the rules left by Nurhaci and was on an equal footing with them. They had to discuss everything together. Now that there was no threat, and it was almost dawn, those in front did not move their camp, while those beside him were noisy and quarrelsome. It would not be good to deal with them using military law. He also saw through the intentions of these few brothers and said, "Let's just wait and see."

  The next day, with the first day as an example, those in front only rushed to grab things and it took half a day. The ones in between were still stuck in traffic, maybe the cars from outside didn't adapt to the local environment. Anyway, they couldn't go far that day, so it passed.

  It's slow, but the road will eventually be walked. As I walk, on one hand, I think: The Ming army should not have gathered in Ji Zhou yet; On the other hand, I also think: The Ming army should have gathered in Ji Zhou already.

  If Jian Yu attacks Jizhou at the fastest speed, he can capture Jizhou before the Imperial Army gathers. The worst-case scenario is that when the Imperial Army arrives in Jizzhou, if Jian Yu also reaches Jizzhou, it will be more difficult. Now, being delayed by Zhe Beile again and again, the Ming army gathered in Jizhou was also dispersed. It seems to be fate!